At Least 15 Families, 2 Businesses Displaced in Washington Avenue Fire

Two days after , at least 11 people have lost their homes and two businesses were destroyed.

Although the four-story, mostly residential building brought down by the blaze was vacant except for the deli on the ground floor, the 14 apartments at 820 Washington Ave. next door were evacuated as well as one apartment at 824 Washington. Five families made up of 11 adults and three children are currently being housed in area hotels, a spokesman for Red Cross of Greater New York said.

The deli on the ground floor of 816, Washington Food Center, was destroyed in the fire and Ali’s Laundromat at 450 St. Johns Place around the corner was severely damaged. The nearby , Boost Mobile and were also damaged and have been temporarily shut down.

The fire, which began shortly after 4 a.m. at the corner of St. Johns Place, took firefighters three hours to bring under the control. Nearly 200 firefighters participated in the battle, which caused a section of a wall to collapse, gutted the inside of the building and destroyed the deli at street level.

One firefighter was hit in the face by a falling brick, was brought to King County Hospital with “serious” injuries and released the same day. Six other firefighters and one civilian were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, an FDNY spokesman said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, officials said.

This is the second fire on the block in nine days. A 21-year-old woman died in a fire  just across the street at 767 Washington Avenue on May 27.

Amy Sara Clark contributed reporting to this article.